my son used his girlfriends student oyster card and was caught. He received a letter asking him if he wanted to appeal and if he did not to ignore the letter so he ignored the letter as knew he had done wrong.

he did not hear from them again for around 6 months, and moved house in December.

this month he had an attachment of earnings and £390 taken out of his wages.

When querying this he was directed to a debt company who said that TFL had written to his old address in November (when he still lived there) to say they were taking him to court.

He lived in a bedsit and often did not receive mail that I sent him.

they say he owes nearly £500 and will take the rest from next months wages.

He has always been happy to pay the fine, but has never been contacted about it by email or phone, and has only their word that they sent a letter.

He also does not know if he now has a criminal record.

We don`t know where to go or what to do next-can anyone help please?

thanks very much

Hello and welcome to CAG.

Sadly, your son shouldn't have ignored the letter, but it is what it is. There may or may not be something he can do about not receiving letters, others will advise.

Who are the debt company please?

Best, HB

Very distressing situation -I'm sorry.

Unfortunately I fear you may be confused about the contents of the original letter from TFL (but I may be wrong).

Rather than asking if he "wanted to appeal and if he did not to ignore the letter" I suspect it was simply asking him for his version of events, otherwise they would consider prosecution.

If he'd replied with a grovelling apology, an explanation of the "mistake" he had made and offering to pay reasonable admin costs plus the original fare, that may have worked - even if he knew he had done wrong.

I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean about the bedsit and mail that you sent him.

What address did he give when caught by TFL?

I don't know how to advise now with an attachment of earnings order.

Others here will be able to advise better.

He shouldn’t have ignored the letter, nor should he have used his GF’s Oyster card. With a fine of nearly £500, bet he won’t do it again!

On a serious note, there’s nothing you can do. If TFL say they have sent a letter, the letter has been sent... They have some of the best lawyers in the country & they will win in court every day of the week because they have millions to chuck at everything!

I work for TFL, I know some of their lawyers, it’s best to pay the fine & forget about it.

In addition to the above, probably very good advice, it is probably worth pointing out to your son that he needs to take a lot of care about making sure that his mail is properly received, properly opened and properly read – especially as he is somebody who may be moving from address to address.

We get a lot of problems here because people don't update creditors or anyone else with their old addresses. This opens the door to all sorts of proceedings and default judgements and damage to credit files et cetera which could often easily have been avoided if they had been dealt with promptly.

I know that it seems that you come onto this forum and simply received unhelpful advice – but in the long term, this is probably the best way to go.

I doubt you were directed to a debt collection company

more likely a bailiff?

can you name them please?

sadly I also feel yes he does now have a criminal record.

My son used his girlfriends student oyster card and was caught. He received a letter asking him if he wanted to appeal and if he did not to ignore the letter so he ignored the letter as knew he had done wrong. He did not hear from them again for around 6 months, and moved house in December.

 

This month he had an attachment of earnings and £390 taken out of his wages. They say he owes nearly £500 and will take the rest from next months wages.

The amount has risen to such a large amount because your son had not responded to the summons. It really is that simple. If he had of done....and had pleaded guilty (which he was) then in the first instance, the fine would have been reduced by one third. Everyone entering an 'early' guilty plea is entitled to a 3rd discount on their fine.

Also, attached to the summons, would have been a 'Means' Form' (MC100). There is a legal requirement to complete this form and your son would have been asked to provide details of his incoming and outgoings. If the form is not submitted, the court must assume that your son's income is over £440 per week and accordingly, the fine itself will be set at the higher end of the Sentencing Councils's guidance.

Ordinarily, your son could submit a Section 14 Statutory Declaration but given that he had received the initial correspondence then this option is sadly not open to him.

What he can do though is to request that the forthcoming attachment against his earnings (of £500) be amended. He would need to speak with the payroll department at his employer and obtain details of the office dealing with the attachment. They are usually willing to amend the attachment so that it is taken from his wages over a few months (possibly at £100 per month).

He must speak with his employer on Monday. He should not delay and should explain that if the deduction is taken, he would be unable to pay his rent etc.

Please do post back with any progress.

looks like there might be a way out.?

read this thread

esp post 2

https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?355679-Letter-says-I-was-convicted-in-my-absence-what-can-I-do-RESOLVED

Interesting link DX and maybe such an approach should be made in this case. TfL can only say yes or no. There is nothing to lose.

yes took me a while to find it

but I remembered it happening

and it surprised me too.

could well be worth a bash

Hello and welcome to CAG.

 

Sadly, your son shouldn't have ignored the letter, but it is what it is. There may or may not be something he can do about not receiving letters, others will advise.

 

Who are the debt company please?

 

Best, HB

They are London collections and compliance

yes took me a while to find it

but I remembered it happening

and it surprised me too.

could well be worth a bash

Thank you

I doubt you were directed to a debt collection company

more likely a bailiff?

can you name them please?

 

sadly I also feel yes he does now have a criminal record.

London collections and compliance centre

In addition to the above, probably very good advice, it is probably worth pointing out to your son that he needs to take a lot of care about making sure that his mail is properly received, properly opened and properly read – especially as he is somebody who may be moving from address to address.

 

We get a lot of problems here because people don't update creditors or anyone else with their old addresses. This opens the door to all sorts of proceedings and default judgements and damage to credit files et cetera which could often easily have been avoided if they had been dealt with promptly.

 

I know that it seems that you come onto this forum and simply received unhelpful advice – but in the long term, this is probably the best way to go.

Thank you, good advice

Very distressing situation -I'm sorry.

 

Unfortunately I fear you may be confused about the contents of the original letter from TFL (but I may be wrong).

Rather than asking if he "wanted to appeal and if he did not to ignore the letter" I suspect it was simply asking him for his version of events, otherwise they would consider prosecution.

 

If he'd replied with a grovelling apology, an explanation of the "mistake" he had made and offering to pay reasonable admin costs plus the original fare, that may have worked - even if he knew he had done wrong.

 

I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean about the bedsit and mail that you sent him.

What address did he give when caught by TFL?

 

I don't know how to advise now with an attachment of earnings order.

Others here will be able to advise better.

He was living in a bed sit in a shared house, he moved from this address in December and they said that they had sent the letter to him at this address in November.

I also had previously sent mail to him at this address that he never received

that will be where you will write your begging letter to eventually.

its simply where TFL prosecution Officers are based.

follow that thread in post 8

get that SD actioned 1st thing tomorrow.

 

They are London Collections and Compliance Centre

It can be really difficulty getting through to LCCC but they do respond to email enquiries quite quickly. If emailing, you need to make sure that in the subject box you put the reference number and a short message...for example; (i.e: URGENT...Attachment of Earnings)

https://courttribunalfinder.service.gov.uk/courts/london-collection-and-compliance-centre

thanks so much for all your help